Is It Safe to Dance
by Erin Griffin
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Pairing: Swan Queen/Remma/ Regina Mills and Emma Swan (established future fic)
Summary: "We can dance if we want to
We've got all your life and mine
As long as we abuse it, never gonna lose it
Everything'll work out right"
Note: This song will be stuck in my head, but I love this song, and i need happiness to get me through the day and into the evening as I wait for the new episode.
"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Henry called from his spot on the first step leading up to the house. Emma, who was carrying a bag of the groceries and the sole reason for their outing, was in no position to catch up with him even if she was at all able to run at that moment. She groaned as Henry made it all the way up to the door, but he waited for her, his seventeen year old lanky frame almost as tall as the doorframe behind him. The fact that he managed up the stairs without tripping was a Christmas miracle, as he went through a clumsy phase that had yet to go away. "Hurry up, Ma," he said playfully.
"You little- not so little bastard. You knew I couldn't run after your ass."
"Don't let Mom hear that kind of language," Henry said in the same tone as before. Emma only rolled her eyes, but she kept her mouth shut as Henry turned towards the door. When the two got inside the Mills-Swan residence, the first thing they noticed was that the air smelled wonderful. The next thing they noticed was the slightest of vibrations coming from the music heard coming from the kitchen. "No, this song," Henry moaned. Emma took a few more steps inside.
"Sweetie?" she called tentatively as she stepped over the items on the floor. The music got louder the closer she was to the kitchen, where the aroma originated from. She heard the sound of clatter behind her and saw that Henry was stilling his fall. He hadn't stepped over the things strewn across the floor. It was his fault they were there in the first place. He had been asked earlier that evening to clean the living room, but he chose to go with Emma to the grocery store to get out of doing the chore. These were instant consequences for his actions. Emma entered the kitchen and couldn't stop the smile that came to her face. Regina had their daughter Kaylee in her highchair and was doing some very odd moves to the song 'Safety Dance', which was on the "80's, 90's, and now" radio station the mayor loved to listen to.
Since half of their time knowing each other involved the mayor's stiff back, tense muscles and even stiffer upper lip, it was nice to see the loose and fluid movements of her arms and legs, the tight jeans she'd changed into after work surprisingly not restricting any movement. The transition from the strict and controlling mayor and later Evil Queen to this almost carefree woman was faster than Emma could have ever imagined. It wasn't that she never thought of what she had done and all she had been through. Once the curse was broken, everyone had a second chance at life, including Regina. She married her White Knight, the one who had broken the curse after all and yet still managed to spare Regina's heart. Emma, on the rarest of occasion when she could joke about it, said that that she only spared Regina's heart because it was her heart as well, and she just couldn't let them separate or die. From then on, they tried to go back to what could have been considered normal in Storybrook, but with half their town back in the world they originated from and another chunk of them taking advantage of the fact that they could leave Storybrook, everyone knew it wasn't the same. Still they tried, and it was a good life they had together with Henry, and later their daughter Kaylee.
"Put the stuff on the counter," Regina said good natured in mid-turn when she caught a glimpse of the sheriff. Emma did as she was told, as she was on her way to doing just that anyway, and when she stepped back into the dining room, she walked towards Kaylee, who was watching Regina.
'Say, we can act if want to
If we don't nobody will
And you can act real rude and totally removed
And I can act like an imbecile'
Emma took Kaylee's hands and waved them around as she sang along with the song. Behind her, Regina danced over to Henry and took his hands. He shook his head. For a few seconds, he was resistant until his mother's eyes widened and her neck bobbled as she sang "We can dance, we can dance. Everybody look at your hands." She took a step backwards and wiggled her index fingers at Henry in invitation, and rolling his eyes, the teen took his mother's hands again and did a couple strange and wild steps with her before he tripped on his own feet. He stepped towards his sister and changed places with Emma.
"It's the Safety Dance, Kay-Kay, and I'm so sorry you have to deal with it after I've gone to college!" Henry said to the baby.
Meanwhile, both Emma and Regina were hopping lightly from foot to foot in a small jig, one hand linked with each other as they danced together and sang the song. Then Regina turned with her hand still up. Emma loosened her grip on it and allowed the turn, and the little jig between them continued. This was to be admired in itself, seeing as Henry inherited his dance skills from his birth mother. The fact that Emma was even in time with the music now was only because she was following her wife. There was the slight flush on Regina's face from the dancing, and her chest moved under her crimson T-shirt as her lungs reached for air, but she was smiling. Regina was smiling, and Emma was smiling back.
The music ended almost abruptly as the song did, about a minute later, and Regina drew Emma into her with a laugh. "Thanks for that."
There was a call from the high chair, and both Emma and Regina turned to Kaylee. "Is that so?" Emma asked the girl. Another holler. "Talking back already."
"Don't look at me," Regina replied. A third holler. "Alright, Missy. Enough now. We're all ready for dinner. Henry, you clear up the living room and wash your hands while we set the table and serve your plate." There was a sigh, but the teen did as told. That, these days, counted as total obedience.
Emma went to wash her hands as well while Regina went to the kitchen to get the final ingredients for their dinner together using the new groceries. Emma came in a couple of minutes later and began taking dishes from the cupboard and a half of a banana from the refrigerator for Kaylee's dinner. On her way back into the kitchen, Regina placed a hand in hers, stilling the sheriff's movements for a moment.
The couple shared a kiss, one that was longer than a peck, but shorter than anything that would warrant a comment of disgust from their son. When they parted, the once Evil Queen and White Knight's eyes locked. There was a glint in Regina's eye that could have been nothing less than happiness. Emma thought that if Happily Ever After meant more days where she looked in Regina's eyes and saw that, knowing that perhaps in part she made them that way, then she was surely well into hers.